On the other hand, suppose all goes sour—far more so than at the present—should that lead to an unhappy New Year for you?

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you (in the long run) only heavenly perfection and eternal bliss to look forward to, should this—despite political and financial circumstances, averse medical and work conditions, and whatever else the coming your way this year—lead to anything other than a happy New Year for as many years as you have left on earth in its present conditions?

Certainly not! Despite conditions—whatever they may be—the eternal weight of glory of which Paul speaks, outweighs everything else—good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant. If you keep your eyes fixed upon that glorious future, rather than the coming year, you can only look forward to a happy new year. You will be able to look through tears to the joys of the treasures laid up in haven for you; to the time when heavenly “politics” go entirely as they should, and all pain and sorrow will have disappeared. Looking at the year this way makes every year a happy New Year, doesn’t it? Otherwise, could you ever rightly say that it could be an unhappy New Year if it is God’s kind of year for you when He has promised that all will work together for good (Romans 8:28)?

So, Christian, I want to be one of the first to wish you God’s kind of happiness during this coming year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Happy New Year! appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

There always is. And, in this case there’s no difference in that regard.

“Well I, for one, am getting prepared—as much as I can be under such circumstances.”

Me too.

“How are you doing so?”

Pretty much the way everyone else is—except for one very great difference.

“What’s that?”

I’m talking earnestly to the Lord about it; and I’m sure that whichever way it goes, He’ll work things out in such a way that they’ll be for the good of those who love Him. After all, He called us, and put us in this situation, for some purpose.

“I know Paul wrote to that effect in Romans 8:28, so it must be true. But, I’ll tell you, it’s hard to see how it will happen in this case.”

I agree. Things look pretty bleak. And, if I were the one who had to work them out for good, I haven’t the slightest idea about how I’d go about doing so.

“But you don’t, fortunately.”

Exactly.

“So, having put it in His hands, we’ll wait to see what happens.”

Are you sure that you’ve done all that God expects you to do at this point?

“So far as I can see, Scripturally speaking, yes.”

So, I agree; we wait and see.

“And then—whether or not it looks like it will immediately be a pleasant outcome or not—we will accept it thankfully.”

That’s the way I understand His providential care to work out.

“Right. But it doesn’t mean that we’ll necessarily like it—at least, at first. Or understand His reasoning behind it.”

Yeah. Yes. We simply have to thank Him for whatever He’s doing, and wait to see what it is.

“Well, I’ve appreciated you taking the time to talk it over, anyway.”

Always happy to do so.

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post God Knows Why appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.

Since we know that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), we can be assured that He is working out a beneficent plan for each of His true children that is going to turn out well.

We can, therefore, say, whenever a situation arises that may not be very pleasant

1. God is in the problem
2. God is up to something in the problem
3. God is up to something good in the problem

Every truly saved person, therefore, may take heart, knowing that in the end, God has something in view that in this life, or the next, will be seen to have been for his very best.

Sometimes God allows us to see that outcome in this life; sometimes He doesn’t. Often we see only parts of it. Usually, that is the case. Joseph is one of those exceptions (See Genesis 50:20). Indeed, since He is working “all things together” it’s virtually impossible to begin to understand all of the ramifications of what is happening. (Even Joseph didn’t know what effects his words would have throughout the centuries and in your thinking today!). We don’t know all things; we can’t, therefore, put very many of those infinite number of things “together” to see the overall pattern of His plan at work.

So, then, what do we do?

Trust. Or, as the song rightly puts it, Trust and Obey.

Check out our online courses, including, Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling and  The Use of Scripture in Counseling, taught by Jay Adams!

Books related to counseling others:

1. Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams
2. The Christian Counselor’s Manual by Jay Adams
3. How to Help People Change by Jay Adams
4. Check out our Bookstore for all the best counseling books!

The Christian Counselor’s New Testament and Proverbs, translated by Jay Adams

Visit our online bookstore for all your biblical counseling resource needs.
For more biblical counseling training, check out our list of INS Online Courses.

Follow INS on Social Media:
– Facebook: noutheticstudies
– Twitter: @noutheticstud
– Instagram: @noutheticstudies

The post Providence appeared first on Institute for Nouthetic Studies | Biblical Counseling.